I was on vacation!

Did anyone notice that I was away? Did you miss my posts? No? Haha! Well, I was away for a week and it was nice to leave the house after almost 2 years. Yes, I have left the house to visit the doctor or pick up some groceries, but for the most part, I have been at home since the pandemic started. Now that I have been double vaccinated, I chose to take a quick trip to visit my family in British Columbia.

Although I lived most of my life in British Columbia, I did not truly recognize its charms until long after I had moved away. I had taken the tropical climate for granted and was unaware of how ecologically unique the region was. Not only is there almost no winter (comparatively) in the coastal regions, but the rainforest is a very pleasant place to live.

One thing the Metro Vancouver/Lower Mainland area has an abundance of is blackberries. This year appeared to be a bumper crop of pest free, plump and juicy blackberries. I picked quite a few and even made several containers of freezer jam out of them.

I spent a lot of time looking at the wide variety of giant trees that grew everywhere and anywhere. I was a bit jealous that it is so easy to grow a tree in the rainforest compared to the arid prairie. Do I expect too much?

I had the opportunity to visit a beach that I had not been to in at least 30 years. Although I did not go swimming, I walked in the water and it was as warm as the water in Cuba. That was a surprise, but it made sense considering the recent heat dome had temporarily risen the temperature of the coastal waters high enough to kill off much of the local shellfish.

Heatwave killed 1 Billion Sea Creatures

That leads to another issue. There had been no rain in the region for a few months. Despite British Columbia being a water rich region, the lack of rain coupled with an excessive heat wave had a severe impact on the trees and other flora. Lawns that are normally lush and green were brown and crunchy. Perennials were stunted and sparse, and even in the forest the underbrush was wilted.

These conditions led me to contemplate how delicate our ecosystems are and how just a little environmental pressure can have catastrophic effects. Vancouver and the surrounding areas, despite the heatwave and lack of rain, still look lush to the eye, but what about those regions--like the prairies--when the environmental impacts are far more obvious. As I look out my office window I can see that local crops have already been salvaged for animal feed.

Unfortunately, this crop should be several feet tall and heavy with ripening grain. The reality is that the farmer had to cut it months early and roll it into bales that will be used for animal feed. Not only was the crop stunted--less than a foot high, but the grain ripened too early. This is not just my back yard, but the entire province that has suffered this fate.

Let's hope for rain. People need to eat.

This is a 100% POWER UP! post.